Shubhabrata Dutta
Movies have contributed a lot towards showcasing humanity’s relationship with the supernatural or the metaphysical. Needless to say, horror films are the primary genre to have done this. Moreover, horror movies based on true stories pick at our interest just as much as they poke at our courage quotient by giving us a taste of how it would feel to be haunted. Here, we bring you the best horror movies based on real-life stories on HBO Max, which pull off the feat expertly.
5. The Strangers (2008)
This home-invasion horror movie is loosely based on the Tate Murders (including the murder of actress Sharon Tate, then pregnant wife of director Roman Polanski) in August of 1969 by members of the Manson family, headed by criminal/cult leader Charles Manson, and several break-ins that occurred in director Bryan Bertino’s neighborhood when he was a kid.
In the film, a couple, James (Scott Speedman) and Kristen (Liv Tyler), is attacked by a group of masked psycho “strangers” at James’s vacation home. There are three of them in the group, namely Man in the Mask, Dollface, and Pin-Up Girl. It’s not whether they will kill the inhabitants but how. You can watch the film here to find that out for yourself.
4. Open Water (2003)
Directed by Chris Kentis, ‘Open Water’ follows two people, Daniel (Daniel Travis) and Susan (Blanchard Ryan), who are stranded in the middle of shark-infested waters. Sounds familiar? Yes, it is similar to every other shark movie, but the only difference is that it is based on a tragic true story, which, if you think about it, raises the terror bar pretty high pretty soon. The two people are left behind by their scuba diving group due to a headcount error and are forced to survive on their own, battling shock, fear, hunger, and isolation until help arrives. The question is: will it? What adds to the effectiveness of ‘Open Water’ is the video quality that makes it seem as if everything was recorded on a video camera, thereby adding to the real terror vibes. The movie is based on the true story of Tom and Eileen Lonergan, who dived with their scuba diving group in the Coral Sea on January 25, 1998, and were unintentionally left behind, a mistake that was realized two days later. Were the couple rescued? You can watch the film here to find out.
3. The Honeymoon Killers (1969)
Directed by Leonard Kastle, this crime film follows Raymond (Tony Lo Bianco), a con man, and Martha (Shirley Stoler), a nurse, who is seduced by him and joins him on an adventure to con women, after which they kill them. Meanwhile, Raymond tells Martha that he only loves her, although he repeatedly breaks the promise by marrying other women. Their killings ended when Martha, fed up with Raymond’s lies, informed the police. The duo is ultimately executed.
The film is based on real-life American serial killer couple Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck, who are suspected of killing as many as 20 women between 1947 and 1949. Looking up their victims via ‘lonely hearts’ ads, the duo earned the name Lonely Hearts Killers. In fact, Raymond met Martha after answering an ad she posted in the ‘lonely hearts’ column in 1947 after taking to romance novels and movies. This was after she became a single mother of two children from two different fathers. Raymond and Martha were arrested and put in an electric chair in 1951. You can watch ‘The Honeymoon Killers’ here.
2. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
Directed by Michael Chaves, this ‘Conjuring’ installment follows Arne Cheyenne Johnson (Ruairi O’Connor), who murders his landlord and, upon being questioned in court, states that it was the devil who made him commit the murder. This happens after he is possessed by a dark spirit that was exorcised out of an 8-year-old kid by a father in the presence of the Warrens. The Warrens (played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) track the possession to a curse by a woman named Isla, an occultist.
The events in the film are based on the 1981 Trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson for killing his landlord, which took place in Connecticut, and the book ‘The Devil In Connecticut’ by Gerald Brittle, which also documents the events that precede the trial by months. These events include the exorcism of 12-year-old David Glatzel, which went on for many days and ended with the demon leaving David’s body and entering Arne’s. The exorcism was aided by the Warrens and the Catholic Church. You can watch ‘The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It’ here.
1. The Amityville Horror (1979)
Directed by Stuart Rosenberg, this film follows a middle-class Lutz family of five (George (James Brolin) and Kathy (Margot Kidder) and their three children from Kathy’s previous marriage) that move into a haunted house in Amityville, New York and are subjected to unexplained events that compromise their domestic life and mutual relationships big time. The wife digs into the house’s past and discovers that it is built on top of a burial ground and was once home to a worshipper of Satan. She also finds out about Ronald DeFeo Jr. (Brian Bruderlin), who killed his whole family living in the very house a year ago (1974). The film ends with the Lutz abandoning the house and their belongings forever.
The horrifying case of Ronald DeFeo Jr. is what made its way to Jay Anson’s 1977 ‘The Amityville Horror,’ which inspired the film that has become a whole franchise today. On the night of November 13, 1974, DeFeo Jr. killed all six members of his family in their sleep using a rifle. They included his parents and his siblings. As to why he killed them, the answers have changed from time to time, including how he heard voices that led him to kill and other family members aiding him. DeFeo was given six 25-year prison sentences on December 4, 1975. He died at the Sullivan Correctional Facility in Fallsburg, New York, on March 12, 2021. To this day, no one knows why he killed them. The Lutz family moved into the house in 1975 and started having paranormal experiences (the house staying cold at all times despite heating, bad smells, and more) and left within a month. You can watch ‘The Amityville Horror’ here.
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